LGUs excited to host 2018 Mindanao Open games

Local government units and other stakeholders are excited about the holding of the Mindanao Open, a quarterly sportsfest to be held in different regions leading to a national championship, this year as the series of coordination meetings wrapped up in Ozamiz City last July 30.

The Mindanao Open is part of the Luvmo Games 2018, a program of the Philippine Sports Commission, in cooperation with the Philippine Sports Institute for 12-under, 14-under and 16-under athletes.Coordination meetings were earlier held in Davao City last July 3, General Santos City (July 5), Cagayan de Oro City (July 11), Surigao City (July 18) and Zamboanga City (July 25).“Everyone’s excited. In fact, some are very interested to be one of the hosts,” said Luvmo Games 2018 program director Nonnie Lopez, a PSI coordinator.

A total of 24 cities and 19 provinces in Mindanao were represented during the coordination meetings.Gingoog City sports coordinator Epifanio C. Zarate said: “Gingoog City is just a small city but we are willing to host 3 or 4 events if given the opportunity.”Dinagat Island Province sports coordinator Jay Benitez said the Mindanao Open will be a big step forward in their sports development.

“Archery has been our priority sports and this would be an opportunity for our athletes to develop and showcase their skills and talents. We hope that Mindanao Open will come into reality,” Benitez said.This year, Mindanao Open hosts will be Cagayan de Oro City, General Santos City, Dipolog City, Zamboanga City and Davao City but the schedule has yet to be finalized pending the PSC Board approval.

The Mindanao Open will feature open water swimming, triathlon, badminton, table tennis, tennis, arnis, boxing, judo, karatedo, taekwondo, air rifle, archery, fencing and weightlifting. However, not all these events will be played in each leg as host LGUs already identified its focus sports.

PSC Commissioner Ramon Fernandez said the Mindanao Open aims to discover and identify talents as well as motivate children to be in sports and keep away from illegal vices like drugs.Similar games will be held in Luzon and the Visayas.